There is a good possibility of loosing the Johnson Valley OHV area (Hammer trails)! More info---> Click here

There is something you can do from home! March 22, a virtual rally will be held on Pirate 4x4. Write your comments, cut & paste into the topic, very easy! A link to the Virtual Rally topic, http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7979104#post7979104Here is the basic info: _______________________________________________________

Please read the following very carefully!

We need your help to pull this off and make it effective. Any and all input is greatly appreciated and will be carefully listened to.

First, let me be VERY clear. It does not look good for the Hammers.

John Stewart for Cal4Wheel is working extremely hard on this with several other people and organizations, but they cannot do it all alone. Like never before, the OHV community needs to develop a grass-roots effort to show that we have strength in numbers and that we care about our trails being taken away from us.

Here is the goal:

In a four hour time frame pack Pirate with so many people the server fries and Pirate crashes. (OK, just kidding…but that would sound awesome on a press release! LOL!)

All politicians care about is numbers. If you have ever taken a poly-sci class you may remember hearing that 1 letter from a person is seen as roughly equaling 300 votes. The greatest number of users ever logged into Pirate was 3,305 on 2/11/2008. The goal is to CRUSH that number and have all of those people post up in the Rally thread what the Hammers mean to them and to the OHV community.

When the rally is over, we will lock the thread and fab-up ANOTHER press release to the powers that be, showing how many people attended this virtual rally, how many posts there were, and invite them to read the thread and our concerns if they did not attend.

Here is the Plan:

1. We will issue a press release this Friday to politicians, media outlets, companies etc. announcing a virtual rally on Pirate4x4.com and invite them to come.

2. Lance will do a mass e-mail to ALL PBB members this Friday asking them to participate in the rally from 2-6 by posting their concerns in the thread.

3. We will come up with “sample” post to put in the thread to give people an idea of what we are looking for. (post them here please) Even people that have NEVER been to the Hammers need to post their concerns. This is all about showing how many of us there are and that we have a VOICE as a community.

4. The Rally will be on WEDNESDAY MARCH 12th from 2 to 6 pm Pacific Standard time.

5. Mustard Dog will start the “Rally” thread at 2pm that day. As of now, it will be in chit-chat, but we may be able to have it in all forums at once.

6. In the thread people will post their concerns about our trails being taken away, why the Hammers should remain open, pictures of them and their FAMILIES in the Hammers (appropriate ones!), etc. etc. People are encouraged to post multiple times.

ALL CHIT-CHAT BULLSHIT AND INAPPRIOPRATE POSTS WILL BE DELETED! We plan on having important people read this thread. If we are not on our best behavior, the OHV community will look bad.

7. As stated above, after the rally another press-release will be issued showing the number of people attending the rally, the number of posts, data on how fast the thread grew etc… We will also invite those in power that did not attend to read the thread.

What I am asking from all of you:

1. PLEASE: Get the word out! E-mail everyone you know, put something about it in your sig-line, go to other boards and sites and announce the rally, send out bulletins on Myspace etc. etc.

2. Write sample “posts” for people to see and post them here. Hopefully, they can type something up over the weekend and just cut and paste it on the day of the Rally.

Will this Rally save the Hammers? I do not know. But if it shows politicians and land-managers that we are a force to reckon with because of our numbers, it may make them think twice.

Why am I doing this if I have never been to the Hammers? During the ELDO fiasco last summer, I asked for help in chit-chat. People asked me, “Why should we help you guys? Where were YOU when OUR trails were being closed?” After I though about it, they were right. Where was I? It seems that we only fight for our own backyards. Not anymore. I promised the PBB in that thread I would fight route closures EVERYWHERE. So I am.

In a few, I will post up what I plan to post in the rally thread on the 12th.

A huge thanks to John Stewart, Del Albright, Randy Burelson, Cal4, BRC, and the other “Land-use” guys for their help, guidance and support. Many of them are working VERY hard behind the scenes on this issue.

I would also like to thank Lance and Camo for letting us do this on their site.

For all of those that e-mailed and PM’ed me on this: A huge thanks for your input and help. I am asking you to all step up in leadership roles in this.

I am sure there are people I forgot to thank. I am sorry….it’s been a long day already! LOL!!

It’s AWN like Donkey KONG!

GET IT!

Kurt Schneider

The Friends of Eldorado National Forest . __________________

VIRTUAL RALLY FOR THE HAMMER TRAILS IN JOHNSON VALLEY ON PBB!! Be there and post POSITIVE COMMENTS!!

Virtual on-line Rally to be Held by 4x4 Enthusiasts Off Highway Vehicle enthusiasts organize to hold first ever online rally over trail closures

In a landmark event, thousands of Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) users across the world will participate in a online, Virtual Rally to voice their concerns over a popular OHV area in Southern California. On Wednesday March 12th, 2008 Pirate4x4.com, a leading website for the OHV community, will hold this rally from 2 to 6 PM PST.

The Hammers trail system in Johnson Valley, California is being considered for requisition to expand the United States Marine Corps training facilities, which would effectively eliminate public access to Johnson Valley's unrivaled OHV Mecca.

Virtual Rally participants will be asked to post their experiences, photos and history recreating with their families in the Johnson Valley Area, and the concerns they have with losing this unique recreational resource. These comments will be posted and tracked in bulletin-board format, with a goal of creating a lasting record of how important this unassuming stretch of desert is to a vast number of people from many places -- some who visit Johnson Valley multiple times a year, and others who just dream of the opportunity of visiting the Hammers in the future. Interested parties are encouraged to attend the rally and read the thread, as this is a public rally, you do not need to be a member of Pirate4x4.com to read what is posted.

Families and clubs have recreated in this area for many years with OHV’s, and competitive rock crawling, rock racing, motorcycling, and ATV events have been held there for more than a decade, with significant rewards for the area economy. In February, the famed “King of the Hammers” annual rock race crowned its king.

The Bureau of Land Management currently manages the Johnson Valley's varied landscape of steep red rocky mountains, rolling hills, open valleys, dry lake beds, dunes, and sandy washes. The main attraction for most visitors is family OHV recreation: trail-rides, competitive racing events, and general OHV free play. Johnson Valley sees hundreds of thousands of recreation days with users motorcycling, ATVing, 4x4ing, rallycrossing, camping, hiking, rock-hounding, and wildlife-watching.

"It is ironic that the BLM has OHV users recreate responsibly by staying on marked trails and not having campfires at certain times of the year, but now they sell the same area to the Marines who will tear all over the area and conduct live fire drills", said Todd Ockert, The United Four Wheel Drive Association Director of Environmental Affairs.